Albert j



A. J. IVES. FIRE DOOR.

' (No Model.)

No. 590,724. Patented Sept. 28,1897.

NITED STAT S PATENT OFFIGE.

ALBERT J. IvEs,.oF AURORA, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR To THEY w1LooX MANU- FAOTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

' FI-RE-DMIOIOR'.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters were No. 590,724, dated September 28, 1897.

Application filed October 19,1896. Serial No. 609,303. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT J. IVES, a citizen of the United States, residing in Aurora, Kane county, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Doors, of which the following is a specification, ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a IO section at line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to that of Fig. 2, but showing the door closed; and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the slotted lever that is employed to engage and hold the door and shows also the I 5 plate that is secured to the door to cooperate with said lever or yoke.

This invention relates to fire-doors such as are ordinarily employed to close openings between two rooms of a factory, warehouse, or

other building, and has for its object to provide devices for holding such a door open and also to allow it to be closed automatically and quickly in case of fire. This object I accomplish by the means shown in the drawings -2 5 and hereinafter fully described.

That which I believe to be new will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, A indicates a fire-wall in which is a doorway a. V

B is a fire-door designed to close the doorwaya; I

C is a track of any suitable construction secured to the wall A in any usual manner, and in or upon which run the wheels of orpartition V dinary door-hangers 17, secured to the door B.

c are guide-rollers. As shown, the track is 'so inclined that unless held open the door would close by gravity.

D is a lever pivoted at d to a bracket 6, that is secured in any suitable manner to the. wall A, near the upper end of one side of the doorway a and in proximity to the door B, so that when the door B is pushed back, as in Fig. 1, and the leverD swung forward toward the door there will be brought in front of and against the edge of the door the straight edge of a short projection f on the. As shown, this lever is provided with lever. an elongated slot g. h is a short arm projecting from-the lever D and having formed on its outer end a short cross-bar 2', the object E is a small yoke embracing aportionof the lever D and carrying a small rollerlwhich is adapted to move back and forth in the slot 9 against one of the sides of said slot.

F is a chain or small wire rope or other flexible connection attached at one end to the small yoke E and at the other to the wall A at the side of the doorway, or it may be attached to any other suitable support. Interposed between the ends of this connection F, as shown, is a suitable spring G and a fusible link H, said spring being for the purpose of holding the lever D either in a position to hold the door B open or to hold said lever back out of the way inorder that the door may be closed, the fusible link being provided in order that by its fusing, in the event of a fire, the door may be automatically closed, as more fully pointed out in the description of the operation to be given hereinafter.

' Iis a plate suitably secured to the side of the door B near its forward edge and on a line with the location of the bracket 6, to which the lever D is pivoted.

j is a projection on thefplate I, that is adapted,'when the door 13 is being opened, to engage with the cross-bar 2' and cause the lever D as a whole to be swung around to bring the projection f in front of the edge'of the door. with the respective devices secured in place in substantially the manner represented in the drawings and with the door in its closed position, as shown by the view in Fig. 3, the opening of the door will, when the door is almost opened, cause the projection j of the plate I to engage the short cross-bare on the end of the arm h and swingthe lever D on its pivot around intothe position shown in 0 Fig. 2, in which position the projection f of said lever is brought in front of and against the edge of the door, as shown. As the lever is swung around into this position the small roller on the yoke E will, by the tension on 5 the connection caused by the spring,be caused to travel to the opposite end of the slot g, and

as such end is past the pivotal point the roller will be held there, as the force exerted by the spring is greater thanv that exerted by the door against the projection f at the opposite end of the lever. Vhen it is desired to close the door, the lever is turned into the position shown in Fig. 3 either by so moving it by hand or by applying force enough on the door to overcome the spring and allowing the lever to turn, and as it is being so turned the small roller on the yoke E travels toward the opposite end of the slot, and when it is opposite to or slightly past the pivotal point of the lever the tension of the spring will hold the lever in its inoperative position.

"In the event of fire the fusible link II will be destroyed and the door through the action of gravity will quickly move across the doorway, pushing the lever D to one side as it starts to move.

The bar 1' at the end of the arm 7t is shown as extending in two directions past the said arm, but one half or part only is engaged by the projection j of the plate I, but by having it formed as shown the lever D as a whole can be used as a right or left and in either position will be engaged by the said projection j at the proper time.

It is evident that many changes in the construction and arrangement of the several parts may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

That which I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

- 1. The combination with a sliding door, of a slotted, pivoted lever adapted to engage and hold said door, a connection so secured at one end to said lever that it may move in the slot in said lever and secured at its opposite end to a suitable support, and a tension device for said connection whereby the lever is held in position to retain the door in its open position or allow it to be closed, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a sliding door, of

a pivoted lever adapted to engage and hold said door, a chain or similar connection movably attached to said lever and to a suitable support, a tension device for the connection whereby the lever is held in position to retain the door in its open position or allow it to be closed, and a fusible attaching device for holding said connection in operative position, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a sliding door, of a slotted pivoted lever adapted to engage and hold said door, a yoke movable on said slotted lever, a connection secured at one end to said yoke and at its opposite end to a suitable support, and a tension device for said connection whereby the lever is held in position to retain the door in its open position or allow it to be closed, substantially as specified.

4:. The combination with a sliding door, of a pivoted lever adapted to engage and hold said door, a chain or similar connection movably attached to said lever and to a suitable support, and a tension device for said connection whereby the lever is held in position to retain the door in its open position or allow it to be closed, substantially as specified.

5. The combination of a sliding door, with the lever D, connection F, spring G, and fusible link H, substantially as specified.

6. The combination with a sliding door and the plate I attached thereto and provided with a projeetionj, of the lever D having the projection f and the arm h arranged to be engaged by the projection j when the door is opened to cause the projection f to engage the edge of the door, the connection F, spring G, and fusible link 11, substantially as specified.

ALBERT J. IVES.

\Vitnesses W. H. Frron, LE RoY SIMPSON. 

